He was that writer with the rarest of gifts, the ability to seamlessly combine cynicism with joy. His ability to illustrate the absurdities of life while still maintaining a zest for life made him unique. It was O’Rourke who first persuaded me to consider a Libertarian view of politics, usually right after I had composed myself from laughing out loud at something he had written. This juxtaposition of wit and substance was not an accident. It’s exactly who he was.
I was first introduced to him through his work at National Lampoon back during my college days. He would later become a foreign correspondent for Rolling Stone, for which his dispatches from some of the worst war torn hell-holes on the planet were legendary. But then, Parliament of Whores came out and I was dazzled. Soon after came Give War a Chance, then All the Trouble in the World and Eat the Rich. Each new book seemed better than the previous one. Half the time you couldn’t tell who he hated more, the socialist left or the war-monger right. He had the singular gift of unflinching honesty, which meant that whenever he was confronted by the absurdities of a political view he at one time held, he would gleefully rip himself. His famous line was, “ One of the problems with being a writer is that all of your idiocies are still in print somewhere. I strongly support paper recycling."
Only ten of his books have survived to live on the shelf in this photograph. All the others—there were twenty in all—were either loaned out and never given back, given away, or live on in a dusty box in the attic in obedience to my strict no paperbacks library rule. Somewhere up there is Republican Party Reptile, yet another classic.
In closing I’ve collected several of my favorite P.J. Witticisms from his over fifty years of writing incredibly witty things…
“Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely.
It's better to spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there's no money.
There are no kinder or better people in the world than those who listen to you when you are 18.
Everybody wants to save the world but nobody wants to help mom with the dishes.
There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
If government were a product, selling it would be illegal.
There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it.
When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.
Microeconomics is about money you don't have, and macroeconomics is about money the government is out of.
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.
We had a choice between Democrats who couldn't learn from the past and Republicans who couldn't stop living in it.
Politicians are interested in people. Not that it is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs.
Never wear anything that panics the cat.”
RIP, P.J. O’Rourke
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